Poll of the Day > Do any of you ever give money to charities?

(+) Yeah! (+)

and i mean real money and i don't really mean like coins in that salvation army kettle

coins arent even real

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I gave $25 to the NAACP and $25 to the ACLU a few days after the protests started. I don't give any sort of regular donations.

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Yeah.

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I bought the Humble Fight For Racial Justice Bundle, even though I already had like half the stuff in it. And I've bought tons of other stuff from Humble.

I donated thousands of dollars of stuff to Habitat for Humanity and Goodwill last year, including a brand new, still-in-the-crate, top-of-the-line gas stove that cost about $1500.

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if it's tax deductible

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Honestly? No.

I don't like not knowing exactly where my money is going. I prefer to donate at the local level.

Work offers payroll deduction for pretty much any tax exempt charity so I've been donating to Child's Play and a local animal shelter for years. I also have Child's Play setup on Amazon Smile.

CedarPointcp posted...

and i mean real money and i don't really mean like coins in that salvation army kettle

Aww, I just do the UNICEF boxes on halloween...

or would if they still existed

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I do.

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I donate money to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital when I'm able.

Usually do it in memory of my older sister (cancer took her in 1985 at the age of 10).

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CedarPointcp posted...

and i mean real money and i don't really mean like coins in that salvation army kettle

Generally no...

The reality of charities is that most of the money is eaten up by administration costs. So if a charity earns (ie) one million dollars for the starving kids in Africa. 90% of that money will go to the person organizing the event, while the 10% actually goes to the cause. In all honesty, it doesn't take a lot of money to feed someone, so whatever that 10% is will be enough until the next fundraising event, while the organization itself can boast ONE MILLION DOLLARS for believing they are so successful.

I have to a few but I generally prefer to spend my money directly helping people, as it has direct results and I know i'm making a difference. I have donated to support charities on my own, and also because friends etc have requested it on facebook or other methods for birthdays etc.

I volunteered for charities though quite often in the past, especially food banks etc, that is also something you can see a direct result from. I have a hard time believing that just sending money to an organization is actually accomplishing anything even though it probably does. I'm very careful with my money and how I spend it myself, so I am also very careful on how I spend it to help others.

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I don't have enough money, but if I did, I would. I do volunteer and donate things.

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I sponsor a child through World Vision, and I make somewhat regular donations to the local humane society.

I also make the occasional donation, mostly hardware, to CNIB.

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ryanell666 posted...

Generally no...

The reality of charities is that most of the money is eaten up by administration costs. So if a charity earns (ie) one million dollars for the starving kids in Africa. 90% of that money will go to the person organizing the event, while the 10% actually goes to the cause. In all honesty, it doesn't take a lot of money to feed someone, so whatever that 10% is will be enough until the next fundraising event, while the organization itself can boast ONE MILLION DOLLARS for believing they are so successful.

Most reputable organizations post those figures clear as day for people to see.

For example, World Vision Canada posted that for 2019 they used 8% of donations for fundraising, 5% for administration, and the rest go towards the programs in some way. It's not necessarily making it to the local community in its entirety, but it is being used for programs that support people. They have documents published that go in depth on their spending, but this quick infographic gives a very high level understanding of it.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/wvusstatic.com/2020/landing-pages/financial-accountability/pdfs/CSP14717-financial-highlights-latest.jpg

If you find an organization that's spending 90% on administration, you should probably look to donate to another organization.

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I have a few times in my life, but I have done a lot more charity work, whether through boy scouts or just helping people

I don't usually talk about this sort of stuff because I don't do it for attention but since there was a topic about it might as well share

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I donate $0.10 of every paycheck to United Way...but I only do it so I get an extra week of vacation.

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Nope, just amazon smile.

Amazon Smile is neat, because it raises money for charity just by purchasing stuff I'd get anyway.

The charity I have selected for Smile and Humble Bundle (when they have the option) is Horses of Tir Na Nog. http://horsesoftirnanog.org/

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Some but i generally don't trust charities, i donate more to places and people i know personally and see they do good

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Not anymore because all they do is send me a bunch of junk mail asking for more donations.

Lokarin posted...

Aww, I just do the UNICEF boxes on halloween...

or would if they still existed

They still do it's just that they're really, really hard to find unless you search for them. UNICEF's mostly gone online for donations now.

Na Im still too poor to regularly give money. Of course not a rich person saying this but i think id give just under the amount of the tax break if I had the money.

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